Asia Folklore The Legends of Eternal Life (Bilingual Edition) (ePub)

Asia Folklore The Legends of Eternal Life Bilingual Edition In English & Germany Languange Legacy Version.



Long, long ago there lived a man called Sentaro. His surname meant "Millionaire," but although he was not so rich as all that, he was still very far removed from being poor. He had inherited a small fortune from his father and lived on this, spending his time carelessly, without any serious thoughts of work, till he was about thirty-two years of age.



One day, without any reason whatsoever, the thought of death and sickness came to him. The idea of falling ill or dying made him very wretched.

"I should like to live," he said to himself, "till I am five or six hundred years old at least, free from all sickness. The ordinary span of a man's life is very short."

He wondered whether it were possible, by living simply and frugally henceforth, to prolong his life as long as he wished.



He knew there were many stories in ancient history of emperors who had lived a thousand years, and there was a Princess of Yamato, who, it was said, lived to the age of five hundred This was the latest story of a very long life record.



Vor langer, langer Zeit lebte dort ein Mann namens Sentaro. Sein Nachname bedeutete "Millionär", aber obwohl er nicht so reich war, war er immer noch weit davon entfernt, arm zu sein. Er hatte ein kleines Vermögen von seinem Vater geerbt und lebte von diesem und verbrachte seine Zeit achtlos, ohne ernsthafte Gedanken an Arbeit, bis er ungefähr zweiunddreißig Jahre alt war.



Eines Tages kam ihm grundlos der Gedanke an Tod und Krankheit. Die Vorstellung, krank zu werden oder zu sterben, machte ihn sehr elend.

"Ich würde gerne leben", sagte er sich, "bis ich mindestens fünf- oder sechshundert Jahre alt bin, frei von jeglicher Krankheit. Die gewöhnliche Lebensspanne eines Mannes ist sehr kurz."



Er fragte sich, ob es möglich war, sein Leben so lange zu verlängern, wie er wollte, indem er fortan einfach und sparsam lebte.